Method and apparatus for sewing bags and other articles



June 8 1926.

C. F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING BAGS AND OTHER ARTI CLESOriginaIFile-fl June 30, 1924 EN TOE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 V J N 1/ Char/e5 Epamj.

June 8 1926.

c. F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING BAGS Ami" OTHER ARTICLESOriginal File-:1 June 30, 1924 5 sheetfrsheet 2 3 l 2 i i I I INVENT'OE(bar/e5 ipar/ms Jun-8 1926.

I C. F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING BAGS AND OTHER ARTICLESOriginal Filed June 30, 1924 5 s t s t 3 June 8 1926. 1,588,340

C.'F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING BAGS AND OTHER ARTICLESOriginal Filed June 50, 1924 5 s s t 4 17v VENTOE Afro EAL 5%? June1926.

c. F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING'BAGS AND OTHERARTICLES Oriinal Filed J 50, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet s VENTOE har/e s F. 5 0

Fetenterl June $3, 1926.

lifhllTEE STATES P @FWGE.

L HAELES F. SPARKS, OF ALTON, XLLKWGES.

Application filed June 30, 192 1, Serial No. 723,191. Zienewed June 15,1925,

This invention relates to the manufacture of cloth bags and variousother articles in I which one or more reletively long seams are sewed ina piece of fabric.

The main object of my invention is to provide a method of sewing bagsand other articles, which makes it practicable to use an automaticsewing apparatus in conjunction with high speed apparatus that performother operations on the piece of fabric from which the article isconstructedssuch, for example, as printing, cutting and foldinqmachinery of the kind now generally used in the manufacture of clothbags.

Another object is to provide a method of sewing fabric bags and otherarticles provided with relativcly long seams, that reduces the number ofoperatives required in the manufacture of such article '9 overcomes thenecessity of running the sewing, machines at an -essively highspeed andmakes it practicable to use short stitches in the side seam and bottomseam of a cloth bag. 1

And still another objectis to'provide a. practicabl apparatus for sewingbags-end other articles in accordance with my inven' tion.

To this end, I have devised aumethod of sewing: and other articles,which is characterized by arranging the-piece or material from which thearticleais constructed in a certain position on a carrier that moves ina definite path, causiny asewim machine to form a scam in said piecewhile the car'- rier is in motion, and then ren'ioving ordischarging:the sewed piece from the carrier when the carrier reaches a certainpoint in its path of travel. Profer-ably the piece of iuaterialmaintained in a fixed or stationary position on the carrier during thesew ing operation and the sewing machine is moved relatively to saidpiece fir'stin one directionso as to form a seam, and thereafterrestored automatically to its starting position so/as to be in readinessto acton another piece of material when the earrier reaches the pointwhere'the pieces are applied or positioned on the carrier. When mymethod is used in the manufacture of conventional cloth bags which'areproduced by sewinga seam. along one side and along one endof a foldedpiece of fabric, I prefer to use one sewing machine to form thelongitudinal side, seam of the bag and use a separate sewing machine toform the transverse bottom seam of the bag, said separate as my broadidea is concerned, whether the.

article is moved relatively to a stationary sewing machine, or whether amovable sewing, mach ne is caused to travel relatively to anarticle'that is maintained in a stationary or fixed position, so long asthe article is .sustuincd or su iiported during the sewing operation bya movable part, such as a car rier, to which the article is applied atone point in the path of travel of the carrier and from which thearticle is removed or discharged at a dillerent point in the path oftravel of the carrier, thus giving sufiicient time for the sewingoperation to overcome the necessity operating the sewing machine at anexcessively high speed. Genorally, the articles to he -sewed will be fedmanually or automatically, one at a time, to a carrier that moves in adefinite path and which is provided with a number of sewing unitsarranged so that a number of articles are being sewed at the same time,thereby enabling the method to be embodied in an automatic bag sewingapparatus that forms part of bag manufacturing apparatus that comprisesconventional high speed printing, cutti and folding machinery.

The apparatus that I have devised for practicing my method can beconstructed in various ways, but briefly described, it is composed of acarrier that moves in a definite path, such, for example, as a rotatabletable or a revolving cylinder, a plurality of sewing units mounted onsaid carrier and each composed of one ore plurality of sewing machines,depending on the nature of the article being formed, and means foreffecting relative movement of each article and the sewing machine ormachines that act on same while the article is being moved )3; thecarrier from the point at which the article is applied to the carrier tothe point where the article is removed or discharged from the carrier.In the apparatus herein illustrated, which is designed for ,use incoi'ijunetion with other apparatus used'in the manufacture of clothbags, such as printing, cuttingwand folding machinery, the carrierconsists-01" a revolving drum or cylinder that is provided with foursewing units, each of which units comprises a conventional sewingmachine for sewing the side seam of a bag and a separate conventionalsewing machine for sewing the bottom seam of the bag. As each sewingunit on the carrier reaches a certain position in the path of travel ofthe carrier a piece of cloth, properly folded, is arranged in a certainposition on the carrier, and thereafter, the sewing machines that actonsaid piece will become operative automatically and will move relativelyto said piece so as to form a longitudinal seam at the side of thefolded piece and a transverse seam at one end of said folded piece, saidsewing machines being restored automatically to starting position atthecompletion of the'sewing operation, At a certain point in the path oftravel of the carrier the completed bag is removed or discharged fromthe carrier, thus leaving the sewing unit that formed the seams of thedischarged bag in readiness to act on another folded piece of material,when said sewing unit reaches the point where the pieces of material areaplied or positioned on the carrier. Assummg that the carrier is rovidedwith four sewing units,,,as herein i1 ustrated, four bags will becompletely sewed at each cycle of operations of the carrier. It is, ofcourse, immaterial how many sewing units the carrier is equipped with,and while I prefer to arrangethe sewing machines that form the bottomseams of the bags in such a way that they moverelatively to the bags onwhich they are operating, this is not essential, for it would bepracticable to form the longitudinal side seams of the bags by movablesewing machines carried by the carrier, and

form the transverse bottom seams of the bags by stationarily mountedsewing machinesarranged adjacent the carrier in such a way that themovement of the carrier would feed the bags past said stationary sewingmachines.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a side elevational view of an apparatusconstructed in accordance with my invention for prac- I ticing myimproved method of sewing bags.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary end view of the lefthand end of saidapparatus. Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating the motors andelectric circuit associated with the sewing machines that form thebottom seams of the bags.

Figure 4; is a detail view, illustrating the construction ofthesegmental conductors and sliding brushes of said circuit.

Figure 5, is an enlarged transverse sectional view of a portion of thebag carrier, showing one of the machines used in the operation of sewingthe longitudinal side seams of the bags.

Figure ti is a top plan view of the parts shown in Figure 5.

bag discharging mechanism that removes the sewed bags from the carrier;

Figure 13 is a transverse sectional view of the carrier, illustratingone means that can be used for holding the bag blanks in operativeposition on the carrier during the sewing operation. Figure 14 is a topplan view of a bag that has been sewed by my improved apparatus; and

Figure 15 is a sectional view, the line 15-15 of Figure 1d.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate one form of apparatus thatmay be used for sewing conventional clot-h bags in accordance with myinvention, A designates a carrier which may be of any preferredconstruction or type, so long as it is of such design that it willsupport a plurality of sewing.machines and move said machines in adefinite or predetermined path, past a point at which bag blanks cantaken on be applied to said carrier and maintained in a certain positionthereon while the sewing machines on the carrier are forming seams inthe bag blanks, the term bag blank being herein used to designate arectangular-shaped piece of fabric that is doubled or folded so as toform two superimposed portions which are adapted to be connectedtogether at one edge and at one end by seams, thus forming aconventional cloth bag that is provided with a longitudinally-disposedside seam a and a iZIlIDSXCISO. end or bottom scam Z), as shown inFigure 14. In the apparatus herein illustrated the carrier A consists ofa revolving cylinder or drum that is arranged in a horizontal positionon a suitable supporting structure and rotated or driven continuouslywhen the apparatus is in operation-by any suitable means, such, forexample, as a n'iotor-drii'cn pinion 1 that meshes with a gear 2 securedto a. shaft 3 arranged at the center of the carrier A and rigidlyconnected to same. lhc carrier A is provided with a plurality of sewingunits, preferably four, each of which sewing units consists of a sewingmachine 15 that is used to form. the longitudinal side seam of a bag anda sewing machine C that is used to form the transverse bottom seam ot a,bag. In the apparatus herein shown the sewing machines B are arrangedon the inside of the carrier A in proximity to longitudinallydisposedslots 4 in the cylindrical shell of the carrier through which bag blanksare adapted to be inserted and. maintained in such. a position on the exterior of the shell of the carrier that the sew ing machines B cancrate on said blanks and form ldngitudinal y-disposed side seams a inthe portions of the bag blanks that project inwardly through the slots4. It is not essential, however, that the sewing machines B be arrangedon the inside of the carrier A. After a bag blank has been inserted inone of the slots 4 of the carrier the sewing machine B that is arrangedopposite said slot will become operative automatically and will movelongitudinally of the carrier, lengthwise of the bag blank, and thuscause a seam a to be formed. in the bag blank. When said sewing machineB reaches the end of the bag blank, thus completing the seam a, theneedle thread of the machine is severed automatically by a mechanism(not shown), but which forms part of the conventional bag sewingmachine, and thereafter, said sewing machine B is moved automatically inthe reverse direction back to its starting position. The sewing machinesC that are used to saw the transverse bottom seams 5 of the bag blanksare arranged on the exterior of the carrier A, at one end of sameesshown in Figure 1, and are operated in such a way that they will movecircumferentially of the carrier first in. one directionftherebv formingtransverse seams able means can be used in the bag blanks, andthereafter, will return automatically to starting position at thecompletion of the operation of sewing said transverse seams. Preferably,the two machines B and C that constitute each. of the sewing units arecombined with mechanism that causes the machine C to start operating onthe bag blank after the machine B has started on its movement lengthwiseof the blank. Accordingly, the machines .8 and C operate on the bagblank simultaneously during a portion of the sewing operation, and asthe carrier A is revolving this time to move the bag blank to the pointwhere it is discharged from the carrier, ample time is provided tor'thcsewing operation, thus overcoming the necessity of operating the sewingmachines at a" excessively high speec. and permitting thd stitchesconstituting the side and bottom seams: to be placed (lose enoughtogether to insure scams that are tight and. no liable to Any suit forapplying the bag blanks to the carrier; either a manually operablemeans, an automatic means or a combined manual and automatic means. Soalso with the means that used for removing or dischargingthe sewed bagsfrom the carrier. the particular location of the bag side seam andbottom seam discharging mechanism being immaterial, So long as it isarranged at such a point in the path of travel of the carrier as toprovide ample time for the operation of sewing the and still permit thesewing units to be in readiness to act on an unsewed bag blank when eachsewing unit returns to the point at which the bag blanks are applied tothe carrier.

In the apparatus herein illustrated each of the sewing machines B ismounted on a cerriage B, as shown in Figure 5, on the inside of thecarrier A that travels longitudinally of said carrier parallel to theaxis about which said carrier revolves, the carriage B" being providedwith rollers 5 that travel on rails or tracks 6 carried byradially-disposed arms or supporting members 7 arranged on the inside ofthe carrier A adjacent the ends of same and also equipped with guiderollers 8 that embrace guide rails 9 which extend parallel to the trackrails 6, the co-operating rollers and rails 5, 6, 8 and 9 being soconstructed and arranged that the carriage B will not move radially withrespect to the carrier A, but will be capable of moving longitudinallyof said carrier. Any suitable means can be used for actuating the sewingmachine B, and for moving said. machine longitudinally of the carrierA'first in one direction to produce the side seam of the and then in thereverse direction back to starting position.

In the apparatus herein shown an electric motor D is associated witheach of the sewing machines B, said-motor being mounted on the carriageB and having a pinion 10 rigidly secured to its drive shaft 11. A sleeve12- that is loosely mounted on the drive shaft 11 of said motor isprovided with one member of a clutch Ewhose other member is connected tothe drive shaft 11, said sleeve 1:2 being used to drive the needlemechanism of the sewing machine B and also being provided with a pinion.13 that forms part of tlze means for moving the sewing iimchine overthe bag blank, during the operation of torming the side seam. The pinion13 is connectcd by suitable gearing with a pinion 1 1, shown in Figures5 and 7, that co-o'pcratcs with a rack 15 on the carrier A which is.nioved automatically into and out of engagement with said pinion 14 at(ertain points inthe" cycle ofoperations oi" the carrier A. he pinion 10onthe drive shaft 11. of the motor I) is'connectcd by suitable gearingwith a separate pinion 16, shown in Figat which the bag'blanks areappliedito the- 30 car ier, the clutch E isrendc redpoperatiy rack intoengagement with the pinion l -l.

hen the carr c 13 reaches the end oitits stroke in this direction, or,in other words, when the sewing machine .8 reaches the r of the bu blankthe clutch ii is tripped to stop the .mai'rhine-B and the rack isdisengaged from the pinion 14. 'llhereatter the other racl; 1'? is movedinto engagement withihe pinion! 16 so as to cause the carriage B to moveautomatically bac; to its starting position, said rack 17 beingautoinaticully disengaged from the pinion 16 when the carriage 13reaches its starting position.

Various means can be used for operating the clutch l1 and the racks 1:")and 17 that. ctfcct the abovc-descril cd movements of the carriage B andthe sewing machine ll mounted theleon. in the apparatus hiy'zi shown theri cltflfl that is used to move the machine 1) ion 'tiudinal-ly ot' thebag blank to form the side scam a in the bag is carried by a pair ofvcutically-shil tablc bars 18 positioucd on opp isite sides of the rack15 and connected together by pins 19, said bars 18 being mounted insupports 20 on the carrier A, in such a way that they can move bodilytowards and away from the pinion 14;. A shifting" rod Lil that isarranged underneath the bars lo parallel to same, as shown in Figure 7,provided with recesses 22 that are adapted to receive the pins 15) whenthe rack 15 is disconnected froni the. pinion 14. At a certain point inthe cycle of operations of the carrier L, a stationary cam 23, shown inFigure 7, engages a roller 23 on the end of the shifting rod 21 andmoves said rod longitudinally so to cause the pins 19 on the plates toinoveupwardly out of the rcccsscs 22 in said shitting rod thereby movingthe rack 15 into engagement with the pinion ll. and cijmscquentlyicausing the can riage ll to start traveling lengthwise of the bag blank."When the carriage 1% reaches the end of its stroke in this direction, atripping device 24 thereon i-ngagcsa stop 25 on the sh'.. 'ng rod 21.and moves said shifting rod longitudinally in the opposite direction,thereby permitting the pins if) on the plates 18 to more downwardly intothe recesses 22 in said shittingrod, whereupon the rack 15 will bedisengaged from the pinion 14.

A shitting lever 26 that is associated with the clutch E is so arrangedthat when the carriage B reaches the end of its stroke in the directionjust described said clutch lever 26 will engage a coneshaped trippingdevice 2? on the carrier A and be moved by same in a direction to renderthe clutch E inoperative. At about the time the clutch E is renderedinoperative so as to stop the pinion l4 and cause the i'nachine to ceaseoperating. and. after the -eel: 15 has been disengaged from said pinion142., the rack 17 shown in l igure 8 is moved into engagement with itscooperating )llilOil it) by the engagement oil? a trij iiping device 28on the -arriage B with it stop 29 on so id rock. The rack 17 issustained by a pair of pivotally mounted links 30 connected to the,carrier ft, and. said rack is normally maintained in a position out oi.engagement with its pinion 16 by a spring 31. Assuming that the carriageB is traveling in the direction indicated. by the arrow in Figure 8,during the operation of forming the side seam of e bag, the trippingdevice 28 on the carriage stop 29 on the rack 17 as 1 strikes the thecarriage nears the end of its stroke, and thus moves the rack 17downwardly, whereupon sv retaining device 32 will move autonniticallyinto engagement with a shoulder 33 in the end of said rack and hold saidrack in its depressed position in mentwith the pinion l6. Immediatelythereafter the carriage B will start to travel in the reversei'lirection hach to its starting; position and inst before said carriagereaches its starting position, tripping de vice 34: on the carriage ashoulder or collar 35011 a shifting rod 36 and moves lit) the retainingdevice 32 out of engagement,

with the shoulder 33 on. the rack 1.7 Whereupon said rack will moveautomatically out of engagementwith the pinion 16 under the inliuence otthe spring 81, The sewii'lg machine B remains inactive during the reinainder of the cycle of operations of the carrier 13., but when saidi'uachine B approaches the point where the bag blanks are applied tosaid carrier; a stationary cam 2%? arranged at one end oi the carrier Aacts upon a clutch shift ng bar 2% and moves said bar in a direction tocause the clutch. lever 26 to render the clutch l6 operative, whereuponthe operations previously described will he repeated, namely, the sowiugmachine ll will be rendered. operative and the carrii'i 'e B will startto more in a direction to cause said sewing machine to form a side seam.a in the bag blank which has just been positioned on the carrier A.

\Vhen the carrier A rotating all of the electric motors l) continue inoperation the clectricjctu-rent being supplied to said motors by busbars 39 on the carrier A provided at their ends with brushes thatcooperate with stationarilymount-ed collector rings 40 that form part ofthe energizing circuit. L1, as shown in Figures 6 and 9, the motors Dbeing electrically connected with said bus bars in such a way as toprovide vfor the movement of the carriages B relatively to the carrierA.

ioo

. ries the sewing machine end 01 the carrier A, clesi natecl by thereference character 42 in ldigrlre 2, that is capable of a sli 'litoscillatory incvemen with relation in he Perrier A, but'wliich iscombined with seicl cei-ricr in such a Way that it will revolve:foi'wasclly with the same. An electric motor C is associated with eachof the sewing machines 3 and each of said motors is herein illustratedas being operetively connected with its cooperating sewing machine C bya, driving belt 43., Obviously, be used for transmitting the power ofthe inotois C to the machine Cu Electric current is supplied to themotors U by a number of stationarily mounted segmental shaped conductors4:4 forming part of the energizing-circuit 45, as shown in F igiire 3,and each cooperating with a pair of sliding brushes &6 that areelectrically connected with one of the motors C by suitable conductors.Vhen the carrier A is in opera tion the motor C that. is associated witheach of the sewing machines I will become operalive when said machinereaches e certain point in the path of movement, of the car rier A, willcontinue in operation for a certain period and then will becomeinoperative automatically when i'ls cooperating sewing machine reachescertain point in the path of travel of the carrier. During the .peiocl cof the sewing inecliines C is operative smcl machine is moved!circumferentielly relaiively, 250 the carrier by a pinion 47 on theshaft of its cooperating motor which meshes with a, segmental mole 18secured in the carrier A. Assuming that an unsew cl bag lolenlr. hasbeen applied to the Carrie A, the meter C- tliel: drives the sewingmachine C which farms the bottom scars of that nerticuler long blankbecomes operative at a certain point; in the path of tievel of 'l-hecarrier by reason of the brushes 4.6 in ch-e mote-i" circuit moving intoengagement with ilh'ili. co-operating segmental conductor lei. motorstarts to operate the pinion i? on the shaft thereof which is then inmesh with co-operating rack 48 on. the carrier A will start to travelforwardly over said rack in the clii'ection'inrliccteil by the arrow inFigure 2, and will thus oscillate 0r bodily shift the supportingstructure 4-2 that car- C and the motor C that operates said sewingmachine. When said supporting struc'lzur 42 reaches such a point thatthe bottom scene 5 ofthe bag has been COLlRPlGlTECl 9, iii device 2L9the end wall of the carrier ,s; see Figure. engages a lever 50 chi-iicontrols e. clutcn 51 which is'usecl to cczmecfiliie pinion l7 with lhedrive shaft of its ire-operating motor C, and.- therea-itei', thesupporting structure 42 will return toits'normel position against/ astop 52. under the influence any other suitable means could As seen assaid' printing, cutting of the 5 ring 53 which was pieced under tensionliving the forward movement of s ucl supporting sii'uctui'e. During thereturn movement of the supporting structure 4-2 the pinion is helddisconnected from its" drive shaft, and when said supporting strnciure'reaches its normal pcsiticn, a second. tripping device 5% on the endWell (if 'lhecer'rier A engages ill. clutch shifting lever 50 and movesthe clutch 51 in a direction to cause the pinion 47 to become connectedto its driving shaft and be in readiness, to start lzreveiing forwardlyover its rack 48 iii; the pcint in the psi-l1 of travel of the carrier AWhere the sewing machines C siart to opei'ale on the bag blai'iks.

As previously sta'lecl, various means cen be used for applying the hagblanks to the carrier A. The means herein illustraied for this purposecomprises a manually-operated fee-(ling device 55 arranged at a certainpoint in the path of i'zwel of the carrier A end adapted tic-be engagedwith an nnsewecl bag blank, as shown in Fignre 10. Thereafter, saidfeeding device is moved towards the carrier A so as to insert theunsewecl longit 'rciinal edge portion of the bag blank into one of thelongitudinally-(lisposed slols 4 in the shell of the carrier encl causea means on the carrier to engage the bag blank and strip it oil thefeeding device 55 as the earlier A travels pest said feeding device.

In the apparatus herein she'wn the position ing of the beg blanks on thecarrier is effected automatically after the mag blanks have been movedmanually into 51 certain position, but it will loo obvious that aneutematic feeding mechanism might be used to ecrange the bag blanks inposition to be engagecl by devices on the carrier .z'k that cause a bagblank lobe arranged in operative position on the carrier each time oneof the sewing units approaches a certain ioint in the path of travel ofthe carrier, thus dispensing with the services of an operator to feedactual practice an automatic feeding device WoulclQnensccl in instanceswhere my ini proved sewing apparatus is used in conjunce beg blanks tothe carrier, and in tienwitiz other machinery usecl in the manuv factureof clet-li begs, such, {01' example, as and folding machinery. Thefeeding device 55 of the apparatus herein shown consists of asubstantially horizontelly-disposc l, bar-like member of approximatelythe same length as a bag blank carried by e pair of swinging links 56and a pair of rock arms 57 and provided with ivotell '-monntecl ri linfin ers 58. The

rock arms 57 are rigidly connected 0 a horizontallymlisposecl rock shaft59 mounted in a. suitable stationery supporting striicture 6O anclprovided at one end with e hand lever 61 that is adepteii to beonemlsccl manually range to turn said shaft in a direction to move thefeeding device from the position shown in full lines in Figure 10 intothe position shown in broken lines in said figure to insert the edgeportion of the bag blank into one of they slots 4 of the carrier A. Thefeeding device 55 is pivotally connected to the .rock arms 57 in orderthat it may move relatively to said rock arms, and thus assume asubstantial horizontal position while it is moving inwardly through theslot 4 of the carrier, and the links 56 are used to control or governthis movement of the feeding device, said links being pivotallyconnected at their upper ends to blocks 6'2 that slide vertically inguide-ways on the supporting structure (50. The gripping fingers 58 onsaid feeding device are connected to a rock shaft 63 that is provided atits opposite ends with arms 64 and 64, and when the feeding device is inits inoperative position, as shown in full lines in Figure 10, the arm64 bears against a stop (56 which causes the gripping fingers 58 to beheld spaced far enough away from the vfeeding device 55 to receive astationary plate (57 on which an unsewcd bag blank ispositioned. As soonas the rock arms 57 start to move forwardly durin the operation ofmoving the feeding device 55 towards the carrier A, the arm (H: on theshaft to which the gripping lingers 58 are connected moves out ofengagement with the stationary stop (36, thus permitting a spring (35that acts on the shaft (53 to move the gripping fingers 5S upwardlythrough slots in the edge. of the supporting plate 67, and thus causethe unsewed bag blank to be clamped securely against the underside ofthe feeding device 55. Accordingly, the continued forward movement ofsaid feeding device vwill cause the unsewcd bag blank to be stripped offthe supporting plate 67 and moved forwardly through thelongitudinally-disposed slot 4 in the shell of the carrier A, thegripping fingers 58 being released autonmtically when the feeding devicercachesthe position shown in broken lines in Figure 10 by means of astop 68 on the carrier A that strikes against-the arm (34? on thegripping finger shaft (53. Before. tl.e gn'ippingfingers are actuated torelease, the bag blank, however, a bag blank supportin means on thecarrier that is arat the lower side of the slot 4 in which the bag blankis inserted and which is com osed ofa stationary plate 69 and a movableplate 70, moves u wardly into engagement with the bagblan and causessaid bag blank to become xed on said plates by pins or projections 71thereon. The movable ag blank supporti 1 plate on the carrier ispivotall mount and is acted upon by a spring 72 t at normally maintainssaid plate 111 a, certain position, but which means of a cam 75 on thecarrier anism consists of a stationary cam permits said plate to swingoutwardly dur ing the operation of ejecting the sewed bag from thecarrier, as hereinafter described. After the teedin g device 55 has beeninserted through the slot at in the shellof the carrier, said devicebecomes locked automatically by means of a spring-actuated locking dog73 on the supporting structure 60 that engages a ing H in one of therock arms 57, thus causing the bag blank to be held in such a positionthat it can be stripped oil said feed ing device when the bag holdingplates 69 and 70 on the carrier move upwardly into engagement with thebag blank. As soon as said plates have engaged the bag blank, A tripsthe locking dog 73 and immediatelythereafter the feeding device will bemoved automatically back to its normal position shown in full lines inFigure 10 by means of a, coiled torsion spring 76 that acts on the rockshaft 59 and which was placed under tension during the operation ofmoving the feeding device 55 towardsthe carrier.

The pins s71 on the bag blank supporting means on the carrier maintainthe bag blank in operative position on the exterior of the carrier, butin order to eliminate the possibility of the bag blanks shifting orbecoming disarranged, I prefer to provide the carrier A with a pneumaticholding means which may consist of a plurality of suction devices 77arranged on theinner side of the shell of the carrier and connected witha manifold 78 {15' shown in Figure 13, in which a partial vacuum ismaintained by means of a suction pump 78'.

Any suitable means can be used for removing or discharging" the sewedblanks from the carrier A. in the apparatus herein shown the dischargingor removing 7mech- 9 arranged in proximity to the carrier A. in such aposition that an actuating arm 80 on each of the movable bag blanksupporting plates 70 on the carrier will travel over said cam, and thuscause said plates to swing outwardly, as shown in Figureg q, whenplat-es travel giast the cam 7 thereby arranging the sewed blanks in aposition where they can be engaged by an ejecting device 81 which stripssaid sewed bag blanks otf the carrier. he ejecting device 81 is similarto the feeding device 55, previously described, in title}: it consistsof a bar-like member arranged longitudinally of the carrier andconnected to a pair of rock arms 82 which are secured to a.spring-actuated rock shaft 83 carried by a stationary supportingstructure 84. A plurality of springactuated ripping fingers 85 that areassociatedwit said ejecting device are secured to a shaft 86 which isprovided at one end with an arm 87. that bears against a stationary stop88 when the ejecting device is in osition to receive a sewed liag blank,sai arm and stop cooperating with each other to hold the grippingfingers spaced away from the ejecting device 81. Normally, the ejectingdevice 81 is maintained in the position shown in full lines in Figure 12by means of a pivotallymounted, spring actuated locking dog 88 arrangedso that one end of same will engage a notch 89 in one of the rock arms82 and its opposite end will be in. position to co-operate with a cam onthe carrier A. Assuming that the carrier is revolving anti-clockwise thearm 80 on the movable bag blank supporting plate 70 on the carrier withwhich a completely sewed bag'blanlris engaged will strike against thestationary cam 79 at a certain point in the path of travel of thecarrier, whereupon said late 70 will swing outwardly,'as shown in iguml2, and. thus cause the sewed longitudinal edge of the bag blank to bemoved into the zone of the ejecting device 81. The continued forwardmovement of the carrier A causes the cam 90 thereon to trip the lockingdog 88, and

as soon as said locking dog is tripped, the

arms 82 that carry the ejecting device 81 will swing downwardly into theposition shown in broken lines in Figure 12, the gripping fingers 85closing automatically during the first portion of the downward movementof said arm, and thus causingthe hag blank to be clamped against theejecting device 81 and stripped of! the carrier by the downward movementof the arms 82. hen said arms reach the end of their downward. stroke astationary stop engages an arm 87" on the shaft 86 to which the grippingfingers 85 are. connected, and thus automatically moves said grippingfingers away from the ejecting device 81, whereupon the sewed bag blankwill be released from the ejecting device and deposited on a pile ofsewed bags. Thereafter the ejecting device 81 is moved upwardly back toits former position by the operator pressing downwardly on a hand lever91 connected to the shaft 83. As soon as the arm 80 on the plate 70 onthe carrier leaves the cam 79,-said plate returns to its normalpositionshow-n in Figure 10, due to the pressure exerted on same by itsco-operating spring.72,thereby causing said plate to he read tostri anunsewcd bag blank from-the eeding-( evice55 when it reaches said feedingdevice.

Havingthusdescribed my invention, what I claim, as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for sewing cloth bagsand similar articles, comprising acarrier that moves in a definite path and which is adapted to receivethe article to be sewed, a sewing machine on said carrier, means forcausing said sewing machine to start operating automatically ontheartilii, after it erations.

longitudinally of said article firstin one direction and then back tostarting position, thus forming a longitudinal seam in the article, anda separate and distinct sewing machine arranged so that it willv form a.transverse scam in the article while the arti clc is traveling to apointat which moved from the carrier. K

2. An apparatus for sewing cloth hagsand similar articles. comprising: acarrier that moves in definite path and which is adapted to receive thearticle to be sewed, means for maintaining said article in a certainposition on the carrier, a plurality of separate and distinct sewingmachines on the carrier, and means for causing said machines to travelover said article in different directions, thus forming seams in samewhile the artinrrlehis being moved to a point from which it isdischarged from the carrier.

An apparatus for sewing cloth bags and similar articles, comprising acarrier that moves in a definite path, means for maintaining an articlein a certain position on said carrier, two automatic sewing machinesthat more} with the carrier, means :Eor cans ing said sewing machines totravel over the article indirections at right angles'to each other whilethe carrier is in motiomthus .tm'ming seamsin the article, and means forremoving the sewed article from'tlce carrier before the carriercompletes its cycle of op- 4. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags andsimilar articles, comprising a carrier that moves in a definite path, apluralityofihas been positioned on the earlier and merc separate anddistinct automatic sewing units that more with said carrier, means forleeding an article onto said carrier in position" to be acted upon byone of said sewing units each time one of said units passes a certainpoint in the path of travel of the carrier, and means for removing ordischarging a sewed article from the carrier as each unit passes adiii'crent point in the path of travel of the carrier.

5. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags and similar articles, comprising acarrier that moves in a definite path, a plurality of sewing units thatmove with said carrier, each of which units comprises two separate anddistinct automatic sewing machines, means for; ositioning a blank onsaid carrier each time a sewing; unit of the carrier ap proaches acertain point in the path of travel of the carrier, and means forcausing the sewing machines constituting each of said units to startoperating automatically on the olank after it has been applied to thecarrier, moreover said blank in directions to form augzulai'iydisposedseams in the blank, and then return to starting position so as to be inreadiness to begin operating on another blank by the time said machinliltihave returned to the point at which the blanks are applied to thecarrier.

6. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags and similar articles comprising acarrier that moves in a definite path, a means lo cated at one point inthe path of travel of the carri r for applying articles to the carrier,a means located at a diil'crent point in the path of travel of thecarrier for removing sewcd articlesfroin the carrier, and means on thecarrier for automatically sewingr seams in the article while it istraveling between said two points.

'5. An apparatus for sewing; cloth bags, comprising a revolving drum,means for holding a bag blank in a certain position on s aid drum, asewing; machine carried by said drum, and means for causing; said sewingmachine to travel over the blank on the drain and form a seam in theblanl c while the blank is being; moved to a point at which it isremoved tom the drum.

An apparatus for sewing cloth bags, comprising a revolving drum, meanstor holding a bag blank in a-certain position on said drum, two separateand distinct sewing nnichines that revolve with said drum, and means forcausing said machines to form a side f-(illi'i and a bottom scam in theblank while the drum is moving the blank. from. the point at which itwas applied to a. point ll'filll which it is removed from the drum.

9. in annantus for sewing cloth bags, comprising a revolving drum onwhich a bag blank is adapted to be applied, a sewing machine on saiddrum and means for causing said sewing- ,machine to travellongitudinally of the drum and then return automatically to startingposition so to form a seam in the blank during a certain period in thecycle of operations of the drum. I

10. An apparatn:-; for sewing; cloth bags,

comprising a revolving diauio. two auto-- niatic sewing machines that,revolve with said drum, means for holding a bag blank on said drum inposition to he acted upon by said sewing); machines, and means where bone of said eewin machines will he caused to travel longitudinally ofthe drum and then return to starting posit-ion and the other sewingmachine will be caused to travel circumfcrentially oi": the drum andthen return to starting position during a certain period in the cycle 0toperations of the drum as to form aide ecain and a hotloni scam in theblank.

l1. An a paratus for sewing'cloth bags, comprising a revolving drum, twosewing machines arranged so as to revolve with the drum, means forholding a bag blank in a certain position on said drum while the drainis traveling from a point at which blanks are applied to a point fromwhich sewed blanks are removed from the cram, and means for causing saidsewing machines to weenie operate on the blank simultaneously to form alongitudinallydisposed seam and a trans' verse scam in the blank andthen return automatically to starting position during each cycle ofoperations of the drum.

12. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags, con'iprising a revolving drumwhose shell is provided with aplurality of longitudinally- (lisposedslots, a plurality of sewing units arranged to move with the drum andeach comprising a sewing machine arranged onthe interior of the drum anda separate sewing machine arranged on the exterior oi the drum, meansfor inserting the edge portion of a bag blank in each of said slots asthe drum moves past a certain point in the path of travel of the drum,and means whereby the sewing machines hn the interior of the drum willbe caused to travel longitudinally of the blank and the sewing machineson the exterior of the drum will be caused to travel transversely of theblanks during that portion of the cycle of operations of the drum inwhich the blanks are traveling towards the point at which they aredischarged from the drum.

13. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags, comprising a revolving drummeans located at one point in the path of travel or the drum forapplying bag blanks to the drum, which blanks are adapted to bedischarged at a different point in the path of: travel of the drum aplurality of side seam sewing machines on the drum arranged to movelongitudinally of same first, in one direction and then back tostarting; position, a plu- 'ality of separate and distinct end seam soning machines, a supporting means or said end seam machines that revolveswith the drum but which is capable of oscillating relatively to thedrum, and means whereby each clv said side seam machines and each orsaid end seam machines will start operating automatically after the bagblank on which said machines operate has been positionedon the drum andat the con1- pletion of ithe sewing operation will remain inactive untilthey have returned to the point where an unsewed blank is applied to thedrum v i 14. An apparatug; sewing cloth bags, comprising a carrier thatmoves in a definite )ath, means located ata particular point in the pathof travell oi the carrier for applying hag blanks to same, plurality ofsewing units associated with the carrier and each comprising twoelectrically'operated sewing machines, and. means whereby one sewingmachine of: each. out said units will form a longrit11dmolly-disposedside scam in. the blank and the other sewing machine of the unit willform-a transversely-disposed bottom seam in the blank during a certain.position of the cycle of operations of the sermon l5 rial comprisingmeans for moving the material, and means for simuitaneousiy form ing a'seam in said material transversely of ihe direction of motion of thematerial, said seaming means being mounted on and movabie with thematerial moving means.

16. Apparatus for sewing seams in material comprising movable means uponwhich the materiel is monted adapted to move in a predetermined path,and means mounted movably on said first named means, said iastnamedmeans being adapted to sew a, seam in said mate-rial.

17. Apparatus for sewing seems in material comprising a revolvingcei'rier, means for mounting material on the revoiving car'- Apparatusfor sewing seams in mute- 7 mounted on the carrier in said material.

and transversely opembie means for sewms" serum is. The method of sewingbags comprising the moving of bag material 1.01 sewing purposes and thesimultaneous sewing of right-angle seams therein, one of which seams isformed parailei to the direction of i'he miner's/i n'iovenient.

19, A machine con'iprisiug a carrier surface moving about an axis, meansfor mounting material on the surface, & sewing head moving QiJOUt'SZZiJi axis and reiaiiveiy to the carrier sai'iacp end in ibe' samedirection thereof, said .nsiioi being adapted to seam said materizii.

CHARLES F. sPAnKsQ

